
The latest Doom game from id Software features a lot of Frank Miller. Hugo Martin, the game director, claims that three of Miller’s creations served as major inspirations for Doom: The Dark Ages: the film adaptation of 300, the groundbreaking Batman comics Year One and The Dark Knight Returns.

Year One’s influence might be clear: the Doom Slayer’s genesis story takes place in the Dark Ages. Martin stated at a press conference this week that the unstoppable assault of Leonidas fighting his way out of the Hot Gates in 300 and the thick, monster truck-like Batman in The Dark Knight Returns both served as inspiration for the Slayer’s heavier, more powerful look.
Previous Dooms also have a big influence on Doom: The Dark Ages. It’s a nod to the original Doom from 1993 and a response to how gamers reacted to Doom Eternal in 2020. The Dark Ages seeks to make players feel like an iron tank—heavy, powerful, yet swift—in contrast to Eternal, which made players feel like a fighter plane or a Ferrari because of its emphasis on quick movement and acrobatics. This time, you have to stand your ground and fight in addition to strafing and shooting.

Martin and Doom: The Dark Ages executive producer Marty Stratton gave players a preview of the game on Thursday, taking them through the medieval setting and design objectives of the most recent Doom game. Players will discover the Slayer’s backstory before he became a world-saving sci-fi hero in The Dark Ages, which, as previously disclosed, takes the series back in time and elaborates on the time when he was “the superweapon of gods and kings.”
The Shield Saw, which is essentially what would happen if you added a ring of demon-slicing chainsaw teeth to Captain America’s physics-defying shield, is the first of several new tools and principles that players will need to learn in The Dark Ages, according to Martin. With the Shield Saw, the Slayer can block, throw, parry, and deflect, “all from one input,” Martin said. It’s a single-button, contextual device that can bash foes and deflect their projectiles back at them, stunning them into a vulnerable state. You can also brrrr the heads off of demons with it.Additionally, it can be used to fend off demons.

And then the firearms. The devs compare the Dark Ages’ arsenal to cruel, antiquated torture devices, describing it as having “the most powerful weapons we’ve ever created.” According to the game’s leaders, the mission statement was “Only in Doom.” With its ability to cut up skulls and shoot bone pieces at adversaries, the Skull Crusher is one of my favorite weapons and one that definitely fits with the “Only in Doom” mentality.
Additionally, the Slayer will be equipped with a range of melee weapons, such as a whipping flail, a hefty iron mace, and a gauntlet. Since id Software wants to streamline the game’s inputs and steer clear of Eternal’s more intricate control system, those weapons’ strikes are also contextual.

Martin and Stratton have stated repeatedly that their goal in The Dark Ages is to simplify the Doom gameplay experience. Eternal, according to Martin, is “too complex,” as “you want to be fighting your enemies, not your controls.” The Dark Ages, according to Stratton, is centered on approachability and is a fantastic starting place for new gamers because to its easy learning curve as well as its setting in the Doom timeline.
Doom: The Dark Ages will be challenging to master, and harsh difficulty options like Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare will return, the game’s leaders emphasized in the same sentence. Players’ ability and understanding of the shield parry system will be put to the test as they take on opponents that are comparable to Doom Eternal’s Marauder. A number of difficulty sliders that provide fine-grained modifications will allow both casual and die-hard gamers to customize the complexity of Doom: The Dark Ages. Game speed, enemy projectile speed, damage dealt and received, parry window length, and enemy aggression setting are among the available options.

The leaders of the game stressed in the same phrase that Doom: The Dark Ages will be hard to master and that brutal difficulty options like Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare will return. Players will face opponents that are similar to Doom Eternal’s Marauder, testing their skills and comprehension of the shield parry system. Both casual and ardent players will be able to adjust the level of difficulty in Doom: The Dark Ages with a variety of fine-grained difficulty sliders. Options include parry window length, enemy aggression setting, damage done and received, game speed, and enemy projectile speed

In the same statement, the game’s developers emphasized that Doom: The Dark Ages will be challenging to master and that options for extreme difficulty, such as Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare, will be returning. Players’ abilities and understanding of the shield parry technique will be put to the test as they take on opponents who resemble Doom Eternal’s Marauder. With a range of fine-grained difficulty sliders, Doom: The Dark Ages offers players of all skill levels the ability to modify the game’s complexity. Options include game speed, enemy projectile speed, damage dealt and received, enemy aggression setting, and parry window length.